The Supreme Court has ruled that the 2nd amendment applies to individual citizens. But how does that affect you? How does it affect the lives of your and your children? Who is packing a pistol? Should you be carrying one too? What you should know before you step out your front door.

If you are anti-guns, or afraid of guns, or just don't like them and don't want them in your house, then this blog is for you.(It might just change your mind)

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Swat Team Leader: Focus on the person, not the firearm.

Gun Violence Prevention Work group

My name is Kevin Flemming and I am a police officer; the Leader of a large multi-agency swat team and I teach response to active shooters to patrol officers.

Almost all of the gun proposals that I have seen since the Sandy Hook tragedy focus on guns themselves and particular characteristics or magazines instead of being focused on the individual. I am here to voice my strong opposition to these bills, and to present you with some facts about mass shootings and alternatives that I feel would be more effective.

The worst school shooting in American history was Virginia Tech where 33 people were killed. The murder did not use a so called assault weapon or large capacity magazines; he used two handguns. One with 10 round mags and one with a mixture of 10 and 15 round mags. During his murdering spree he fired 174 rounds and reloaded his weapons 17 times.

The commission tasked with investigating the murders determined that a ban on magazines over 10 rounds would have had no effect whatsoever on the crime.

At columbine, while a federal assault weapons ban was in effect, a few killers used four guns, only one of which would be considered an assault weapon, even by newly proposed more strict Connecticut definition. The majority of the
deaths and injuries came from a simple two shot shotgun that the killer reloaded over 20 times during his crimes.

Senate bill 122 proposed by senator ______ would ban the possession of any firearm that holds more than one round. Senator ___ probably believed that this bill would stop mass shootings if it be adopted; while a man named Charles Whitman who in 1966 climbed the tower that the University of Texas and killed 14 people and wounded 32 more would probably disagree, since he used exactly that one type of weapon that this law would allow: a single shot bolt action rifle.

How about a total ban on the possession of firearms? We can look to Chicago which has arguably the strictest gun laws in the free world with a total ban on the possession of handguns since 1982 until it was ruled unconstitutional in 2010. From 1900 to 2012 Chicago averaged 652 murders a year, the highest murder rate in the nation.

My point is you can not solve this problem with additional gun control which focuses on the firearms instead of the person. Additional restrictions on firearms or magazines would have had no effect on what happened at Sandy Hook. Banning firearms serves only the criminal and hurts only the law abiding citizen. Adam Lanza violated over 20 laws before he even arrived at Sandy Hook elementary school. What makes people think that he would care about more?

There have been billed proposed that we ban the possession of magazines over 10 rounds. There are already literally millions of these magazines already legally owned in Connecticut Many are personally owned by most police officers in the state for their own purposes outside of their duties. Laws like this would force officers to choose between getting rid of their rightful and legal property or becoming a criminal.

Every officer that I have spoken with about this has said they will NOT get rid of their property as they feel such laws are unjust and specifically targets those who have done nothing wrong. My father retired from law enforcement after 35 years and his agency gave him his service weapon as a token of their appreciation. Do we really want to force people like him to make the choice between their property or becoming a criminal?

My suggestions are to look at the person instead of the gun. Make mental health evaluations part of the pistol permit application process and make information about people involuntarily committed by law enforcement or doctors available to the state police weapons unit - just as is currently done with protective orders. Most importantly: Enforce the laws that we currently have on the books to the full extent of the law and require severe mandatory minimums of people convicted of violent crimes .

Thinking we can reduce gun crimes by changing the physical characteristics of firearms is like trying to reduce DUI related accidents by changing the physical characteristics of cars. We must address the person and not the object. Thank you.

True Hoplophobia, or the fear of guns, is a mental illness which, like other true phobias, incapacitates its victims with anxiety, shortness of breath, inability to think clearly and rationally. Obviously, we who are fearful of guns and their destructive power don't have true Hoplophobia. But we are still afraid. Why?

DISCLOSURES:

AAs of 1 December 2009, bloggers must disclose any relationship they have with the product they are reviewing. If one doesn't, they could receive a huge fine.

Unless otherwise specified in an individual article, I have not received any goods, services, or fees for reviewing or promoting any service or product through my posts. Not one freebie. Not one penny.

Most of the Ads found on this blog are revenue-generating randomly and automatically generated advertisements by Google ad-sense. I am not in control nor do I necessarily know what those ads are for. Ads which appear on my blog may be from services or of products that I may or may not have not reviewed.

Static ads have also been placed on this blog. Unless otherwise specified, these are non-revenue generating ads which I placed simply because they are relevant. I may or may not have not reviewed their products or services. I have received no goods, services, or fees for this ad placement.

I reserve the right to accept such arrangements in the future, and any such relationships will be posted here.

PRO GUN QUOTES

Gun control:The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her panty hose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound. - L. Neil Smith

Gun control has not worked in D.C. The only people who have guns are criminals. We have the strictest gun laws in the nation and one of the highest murder rates. It's quicker to pull your Smith and Wesson than to dial 911 if you're being robbed. - Lieutenant Lowell Duckett, President Black Police Caucus, Special Assistant to Washington, D.C. Police Chief

They have gun control in Cuba. They have universal health care in Cuba. So why do they want to come here? - Paul Harvey, 1994

Suppose the Second amendment said A well-educated electorate being necessary for self-governance in a free state, the right of the people to keep and read books shall not be infringed. Is there anyone who would suggest that means only registered voters have a right to read? - Robert Levy, Georgetown University Professor

We should not blame a gun itself for any crime or any acts of violence, any more than we can blame a pen for misspelling a word. - Senator Bennett (R-UT), Congressional Record, 5/16/68

When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. - Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President of the United States

PRO GUN CONTROL QUOTES

For target shooting, that's okay. Get a license and go to the range. For defense of the home, that's why we have police departments.- James Brady

The most effective means of fighting crime in the United States is to outlaw the possession of any type of firearm by the civilian populace.- Janet Reno

We need to stand firm on behalf of sensible gun control legislation. We have to enact laws that will keep guns out of the hand of children and criminals and mentally unbalanced persons.- Hillary Clinton

Without stronger, sensible gun laws, thousands upon thousands of people will continue to die and be injured needlessly each year.- Brady Campaign

We don't need any additional gun laws, we need to enforce the ones that we've got!- Anonymous

One third of all households with children younger than eighteen have a firearm-Brady Campaign

If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an out-right ban, picking up every one of them... 'Mr. and Mrs. America, turn 'em all in,' I would have done it. I could not do that. The votes weren't here.-Senator Dianne Feinstein

This year will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future!- Adolph Hitler